Tray construction



Oct. 8, 1963 D- BERLIN TRAY CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 22, 1961 INVENTOR.

DANIEL BERLIN ATTORNEYS 3,106,295 TRAY CONSTRUCTION Daniel Berlin, 4424 Paul St., Philadelphia, Pa. Filed Sept. 22, 1961, Ser. No. 139,934 6 Claims. (Cl. 211-132) This invention relates to a novel construction of a tray to be used in the well-known tray or TV tables.

In the past, these tables normally comprised a pair of pivoted tubular legs, a tray, and means for securing. the

tray to the legs. The securing means conventionally used comprised a plurality of spring clips which were riveted or otherwise secured to the underside of the tray.

The table construction referred to in the immediately preceding paragraph sufiers from one serious disadvantage. During use, as when assembling the table, the spring clips are often inadvertantly broken off from the tray. Since these spring clips cannot easily 'be replaced, the tray is rendered useless for its intended purpose when but a single clip has been broken.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a tray construction which overcomes the aforementioned problem. 7

It is another object of this invention to provide a tray construction which is decorative in appearance and durable in use.

These and other objects are accomplished by providing a tray construction comprising a flat surface and leg securing means which are integral with said flat surface.

Other objects and many attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the tray construction of this invention with its associated legs; and,

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, a tray table embodying the present invention is shown at 10 in FIGURE 1. Table 10 basically comprises tray 12 and legs 14'.

Tray 12 comprises a flat central portion 16 which is generally rectangular in shape but has rounded corners 18. Integral with central portion 16 and arranged at right angles thereto is an upstanding wall 20 having long parallel sides 22 and short parallel sides 24. Integral with and.

extending outwardly at right angles from wall 20 is a peripheral flange 26. Integral with and extendingperpendicularly downward from long sides 28 of peripheral flange 26 are flanges 30. The outeredges of flanges 30 are bevelled, as at 32, to provide a decorative eifect.

Thus, as seen in'FIGU'RE 2, the tray comprises a recessed flat central portion 16 and a 'U-shaped leg-engaging means 21 integral with said central portion. The U- shaped leg-engaging means 21 comprises upstanding .wall 22, peripheral flange 28, and downwardly extending flange 30. Although not readily apparent in FIGURE 2, flange 30 is slightly inclined inwardly or towards wall 22 to provide a resilient grip on legs 14 when inserted within the U-shaped leg-engaging means 21. The lower edge of flange :30 is bent inward to form a lip 34 which acts as an additional means for securing legs 14 in place.

Referring again to FIGURE 1, each leg 14 comprises a U-shaped tubular member having side members 40 and horizontal bridging section 42 uppermost. Legs 14 are pivoted at their mid-sections about pins 44. The open ends of each leg can be covered with rubber caps 46. It is to be understood that in place of the caps 46 which are illustrated, other closing means such as metal plugs or wheels may be used on the ends of the tubular legs.

In use, a pair of pivoted legs 14 is spread apart with a bridging section 42 being uppermost. Tray 12 is then secured to the legs by snapping the legs into the substantially U-shaped leg-engaging means 21 shown in FIGURE 2.

As is apparent in FIGURE 2, the weight of the table and a the objects thereon is supported by peripheral flange 28. I The tray of this'inventio-n can be made of numerous resilient materials, such as various metals, suchas steel,

or polystyrene, polyvinylidene chloride, polyethylene or other well-known synthetic resins. resin may be fiberglass reinforced.

The legs of this table are preferably made of tubular metal such as aluminum or thin steel. The aluminum legs can be anodized or surface treated by other known methods. Likewise, the steel legs can be brass plated or lacquered.

Where desired, the

Obviously, many modifications and variations of 'the' present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practicedotherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed as the. invention is:

1. In a tray table comprising a pair of pivoted legs and a tray releasably secured to said legs, the improvement comprising a tray fabricated of resilient material and having a central surface portion and leg-engaging portions integral therewith, said leg-engaging portions each comprising a wall extending perpendicularly upward from said central surface portion, a peripheral flange extending perpendicularly outward from said wall, and a dependent flange extending perpendicularly downward from said peripheral flange, said legs being resiliently gripped within said leg-engaging portions.

2. Thetray of claim 1 wherein said dependent flange is slightly inclined toward the wall to provide the resilient Y References Cited .in the file of this patent Block Mar. 31, 1959 Patented Oct. 8, 1963 V 

1. IN A TRAY TABLE COMPRISING A PAIR OF PIVOTED LEGS AND A TRAY RELEASABLY SECURED TO SAID LEGS, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A TRAY FABRICATED OF RESILIENT MATERIAL AND HAVING A CENTRAL SURFACE PORTION AND LEG-ENGAGING PORTIONS INTEGRAL THEREWITH, SAID LEG-ENGAGING PORTIONS EACH COMPRISING A WALL EXTENDING PERPENDICULARLY UPWARD FROM SAID CENTRAL SURFACE PORTION, A PERIPHERAL FLANGE EXTENDING PERPENDICULARLY OUTWARD FROM SAID WALL, AND A DEPENDENT FLANGE EXTENDING PERPENDICULARLY DOWNWARD FROM SAID PERIPHERAL FLANGE, SAID LEGS BEING RESILIENTLY GRIPPED WITHIN SAID LEG-ENGAGING PORTIONS. 